Paulownia Precision

[fender3x]

What does it sound like? Still got that 'Black Gold' pickup on it? Any good?

Always cut to the chase ;-) Yeah, so far so good. I shielded the cavity, soldered on the ground connection and put it all together tonight. I played just enough notes to test that the wiring was good. It is, and those few notes sounded good, although I have the stock PB strings on it right now. My initial reaction is that is sounded just like a p-bass should. But it's a little distracting not having the setup right. Now that I can see it all works, I'll put on a better set and do the setup. I'll have a better sense of the sound then.

In the meantime, I got a few pics. Garage lighting in the middle of the night, so not the best, but you the idea.





Final weight, 2.84 kg / 6.26 lbs

[McCreed]

That came up nicely.
No issues with neck dive?

[dozymuppet]

That looks great.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

[Rabbit]

That came up nicely.
No issues with neck dive?

It looks good!

I wouldn't have thought neck dive would be an issue. That tends to be more with the body shapes that have no top horn like an explorer or t-bird.

[Trevor Davies]

Looks great. Love the colour and the headstock.

[Simon Barden]

For those who thought there might be some neck-dive...you were right. It's not severe, and is about the same as my Fender. I think it helped to use the Hipshot ultralites and to make the headstock a bit smaller than a standard p-bass.

Yes, there is some neck dive.

It looks very good. I like the chunky bridge.

[fender3x]

It has a bit of neck-dive, but I don't think it'll be an issue. I have a G&L ASAT that had the issue Rabbit mentions. Also have a '70's era precision that has bit of neck dive for the same reason that this bass has it...it has a fairly light body. This is different. If I use a "slippery strap" the drop would be pretty noticeable. If I use a suede-on-the-inside strap, you can tell that the neck is a bit heavy compared to the body, but it doesn't really drop. Having a bit more of a "sticky" strap" has worked with my other basses with this issue too, but the weight makes a huge difference. With the ASAT that weighs in at 4.5 kg, the sticky strap makes my shirt bunch up holding the neck in place, and I feel that plus the weight of the bass on my shoulder. at 2.9 kg, the my shirt doesn't really bunch up and the weight on my shoulder is a lot better. So this seems like more tolerable neck dive if that makes any sense. In any case, it's not severe.

[fender3x]

Thanks for all the comments. I like the way the finish came out. At least right now before it starts to collect dents ;-)

More when I get it set up and really hear it.

[fender3x]

I like the chunky bridge.

Me too, and I think it was your suggestion to use a high mass bridge to compensate for the neck a bit. With the possible exception of the neck itself, the bridge was the single heaviest thing I have attached to the bass. Felt odd to use a heavy bridge on a bass I was trying to keep light, but I think it was the right thing to do. The Sung Il was one of the few bridges I have found that is high-mass, locking, top-loading or string through. It was also affordable at under $30 US. If you want to keep it light the Babicz or Hipshot would be better. If you want or don't mind the weight it's hard to beat these Korean bridges.

[Simon Barden]

You could have fitted two for even better balance.